


To Boldly Dress (Like Those Who Might Have Gone Before)

by iberiandoctor (jehane)



Series: No Other Place [2]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Autumn, Banter, Canon Disabled Character, Canonical Character Death (referenced), Charles in a Wheelchair, Costumes, Erik is a Father, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Post-X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Pumpkins, Treat, Trick or Treat 2017, Trick or Treat: Chocolate Box, Trick or Treat: Treat, Uniform Kink, X-Men: Apocalypse (2016, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, costume fetish, dadneto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-21 19:39:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12464487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jehane/pseuds/iberiandoctor
Summary: Erik doesn’t do Halloween costumes. Peter and Charles try to change his mind.





	To Boldly Dress (Like Those Who Might Have Gone Before)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [citrinesunset](https://archiveofourown.org/users/citrinesunset/gifts).



> Thanks to Trobadora for the beta!
> 
> cw for references to canonical character deaths and grief.

Nina would have loved autumn in Westchester. The brilliant oranges of the sugar maple trees; the anthocyanin pigments that gave the dogwoods and sumacs their characteristic reds and purples; the smell of the late apple harvest; the proliferation of wild turkeys and cotton-tailed rabbits and white-tailed deer — she would have loved all of it. Had she lived to see it, she would have learned to call it _fall_.

Erik stared out of the window at the school’s brightly-decorated lawn. It had been months since he’d decided to stay and help rebuild the school, the New York summer giving way to this deceptively mild October, and his grief was still as present as it had been on that first, terrible day he’d woken up alive in the United States and realized his girls weren’t with him to see it, and remembered what he’d done.

Still, he’d promised Charles he would try, and he _was_ trying. Some things helped: Peter, his brilliant, exasperating son. The unexpected gift of a daughter who had grown safely into adulthood, though he was still trying to build a relationship with her. The school. Sharing Charles’s dream; sharing Charles’s bed. Trying to make reparation, one day at a time.

But on this day, when America’s children celebrated this quaint festival with carved pumpkins and costumes and candy, he couldn’t help but feel Nina’s absence like a phantom limb.

  
  
  
  


“Hey, Dad. Of all the days to not break out the Magneto costume!”

Erik turned from the window to see his adult son dressed in a hooded fraternity sweatshirt, the sockets and teeth of a skull carefully charcoaled onto his face. 

Despite himself, he felt his own lips curve upwards. “I decided not to afflict my red and purple glory on the neighborhood. Unlike you, with your choice of whatever this is.”

Peter said, “I’m supposed to be a murderous frat boy? It’s, like, a subversive take on the high school slasher movie where the quarterback’s usually the first to die. Except not this quarterback!”

Erik was only vaguely familiar with the slasher genre. As far as he was aware, it involved disgruntled axe-wielding misanthropes lurking about on camping grounds and school proms in pursuit of beauty queens and the school football team. Then he wondered if Peter had ever played football. There were so many things he didn’t know about his boy, and no way to turn back time. 

Rather than dwelling on the lost years, he asked, “Don’t you think your get-up might be too frightening for the younger students?”

“Nah,” Peter said, his grin matching the bared teeth of his face paint. “Kids these days eat up the scary stuff. You should see what Storm’s wearing!”

Erik wasn’t sure he in fact wanted to; he’d been told it involved leather, and a whip. “When are you taking the children out to town?”

“As soon as Jean can get Leech into his unicorn costume.” 

_You don’t want to know what Jean’s wearing, either_ , Charles sent, matter-of-factly. A moment later the man wheeled himself into the room, a very large bowl of brightly-colored candy on his lap. 

Charles was wearing what appeared to be a uniform of some kind: a long-sleeved gold top that had an insignia over its left breast, form-fitting black metallic trousers with a slight flare, and shiny black boots. Erik didn’t know much about American television, but he had the impression this was the captain’s uniform from a famous science fiction franchise. He had to admit it was quite visually appealing.

Peter snapped his fingers appreciatively at Charles’s attire. “Glad someone else made an effort. Permission to assemble the away team, Captain, sir!”

“Permission granted,” Charles said, “as long as you bring everyone back in one piece.” He glanced sideways at Erik. “Didn’t feel like dressing up for Halloween?” he enquired.

“I thought being Erik Lehnsherr would be sufficiently terrifying in and of itself?”

“Nonsense,” Charles said, cheerfully. “There’s always time for a good costume. Could you help me put this bowl in the foyer? It doesn’t go with my outfit.”

Erik took the bowl and stared at the suspiciously fluorescent contents. Doubtless if handed out indiscriminately, the sugar and food coloring would have a seriously adverse effect on the neighborhood’s dental well-being.

“Trying to win over _homo sapiens_ children with highly processed sucrose? This is hardly fighting fair, even for you.” 

“You know what they say about flies and honey,” Charles remarked. “Besides, Hank has outdone himself with the pumpkins this year! I want the whole neighborhood to come and see.”

Erik followed Charles out into the hallway, carrying the entrapping bowl. The foyer was filled with the younger student body in their costumed best: ghouls and ghosts and goblins of all shapes and sizes. Amongst them was Jubilee, who was dressed as some pop star or other in shiny bell-bottoms, and Kitty Pryde in a dragon costume that was slightly too big for her. Storm was trying to persuade little Rahne Sinclair to wear a warm jacket over her selkie outfit; Rahne was telling her werewolves already came with a built-in jacket.

Nina would have wanted to spend Halloween dressed as one of the animals she loved, of course, no princesses or witches for her. Would Magda have garbed her in the wings of butterflies or ravens? Would she have been a squirrel or a Polish lynx? For a moment, Erik pictured their little girl in costume as a wolf or a white eagle, getting ready for Halloween with the other students, and the image brought a smile to his face. 

Charles projected his voice to carry. “Children! Are we all ready to go trick-or-treating?” 

Over the sounds of pre-teen cheering and teenaged groans, Erik set the candy bowl on the table in the center of the foyer. It was almost as large as the snarling orange pumpkin that decorated the hallway in the Beast’s likeness. Someone had put spectacles on the pumpkin, which made it look even more fearsome.

“Now, I want everyone to be on their best behavior, and to listen to Peter and Ororo, is that clear? Don’t let the kids eat all the candy at once, Ororo.”

“If it were up to me, they wouldn’t be allowed to eat any candy _at all_ ,” Storm said, grimly, a sentiment with which Erik rather agreed. “They will be bouncing off the walls tonight as it is. And the food coloring might trigger a secondary mutation.” 

Peter cheered at this. Erik wondered if the kitty-cat ears and buckles had been his son’s idea, because Storm didn’t strike him as the sort who would be familiar with American pop culture. He also wondered whether he needed to tell _Peter_ not to eat all the candy at once. 

“We’re ready to go,” Jean said, coming down the stairs. She was wearing a military cap and a brass-buttoned leather jacket that looked like a Russian military uniform. 

She was carrying Leech, whose green skin was hidden under his fluffy white unicorn onesie, and whose power was likely helping Jean keep the Phoenix force at bay. Leech was the youngest student in the school, slightly younger than Nina had been; doubtless they would have been friends, banding together against the older students and getting up to no end of mischief.

Charles patted Jean’s hand. “Have a nice time,” he said. “Who’s driving the bus?”

“Me,” Hank said, “and wait till you see what I’ve done with it!”

  
  
  
  


Erik and Charles followed everyone else out of the mansion. Hank had been as good as his word: the bus was dressed up as a battle tank from some post-apocalyptic dystopian movie.

“How nice,” Charles said, faintly. Erik thought, hiding a smile, that Charles might be reconsidering the advisability of the entire costuming premise. “Have everyone back by 9 pm, all right?”

“Aye aye, Captain!” Peter said, making a V sign with the first two and last two fingers of his right hand that delighted Charles and bemused Erik.

The children piled enthusiastically into the battle tank. Charles and Erik watched as it took off down the driveway, wobbling slightly under the weight of the additional metal and gun turrets that Charles probably hoped weren’t real; of course, Erik knew better. 

“I suppose it could have been worse,” Charles said, although Erik wasn’t sure what could in fact be worse than the school’s Science department head trying to impersonate Australian actor Mel Gibson. “Hank might have gotten it into his head to turn the bus into the Starship Enterprise.”

Erik belatedly caught the Star Trek reference. He looked down at Charles’s costume with belated recognition and newfound interest. “I have to say, I didn’t realize you were quite this interested in Halloween.”

Charles glanced up at him, a small smile on his face. “Not just Halloween,” he said, slyly. “As you know, I’ve always been in favour of uniforms in the field.”

Erik stifled a groan. He recalled having to wear yellow and black spandex as if it were yesterday. “You would have thought I’d have remembered your costume fetish.”

“Glass houses and stones, old friend. I’m not the one who wore a purple cape to break people out of prison and rally mutants to his cause.”

Erik felt his mouth twitch. “Guilty as charged,” he admitted. Only to this man would he also admit that he rather enjoyed the drama of a good cape. 

“The only redeeming feature of that costume was that it was admirably fitted. Especially around the chest,” Charles said. There was a pointed tone to his voice; when Erik looked down he could see the rising color across his friend’s cheekbones. It was _very_ becoming.

“Why, Charles, I can’t decide if this desire for costumed play is romantic or hopelessly perverted.”

“Call it a bit of both,” Charles murmured. The blush had spread to the top of his newly-domed head. Erik was still getting used to Charles’s post-Apocalypse baldness, but he had to agree the flushing was not at all unattractive.

Erik felt a rush of gratitude. His ghosts would always be with him, as they were tonight of all nights, on All Hallow’s Eve. But tonight, there were also his son, his students, and, above all, this man, who had gotten dressed in a ridiculously tight-fitting costume with boots and shiny trousers — for Halloween, and also for him. 

_You know, the neighbors will start with the houses on the far end of the lane,_ that man sent, his familiar mind-touch teasing and intimate. _We’ll be all alone for the next half hour at least._

Erik snorted. It was very difficult to resist Charles Xavier and his out-of-this-world brand of romantic perversion, and it would take a more stubborn man than him to keep trying, particularly now that they had found their way to each other at last.

 _Well, then. Permission to come aboard?_ he enquired.

 _Make it so,_ Charles sent, a teasing command, and Erik climbed into Charles's lap and did his best to comply.

**Author's Note:**

>  _A Note on Costuming_ :  
> In light of the fact that Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard won’t see airtime for another few years, Charles wears Captain James T. Kirk’s command gold for Halloween 1983. In this vein, Jean's outfit foreshadows Famke Janssen’s Xenia Onatopp; Storm's, Halle Berry’s rather unfortunate Catwoman. The _Mad Max_ franchise originated in 1979, though Nicholas Hoult’s actual character won’t debut until 2015’s _Fury Road_ , so Hank McCoy is obviously dressed as the Mel Gibson version. And of course Peter’s costume references Evan Peter’s Tate Langdon from _American Horror Story: Murder House_.


End file.
